Billy "Sticks" Nicks

Born in Greenwood, Mississippi, Billy played for years with Junior Walker and the All-Stars, drumming on many well-known Motown hits such as "Roadrunner," "How Sweet It Is to Be Loved by You," and "Pucker Up Buttercup." Even earlier, in the mid-1950s, Billy Sticks Nicks and His Rhythm Rockers, with Junior Walker and Willy Woods, played a regular Saturday show on WNDU in South Bend. After a stint in Europe with the army, Billy returned in 1962 to play jazz with Jackie Ivory, recording for Atlantic records. He went on to rejoin Junior Walker for ten years in 1966, and is pictured here on that first tour in 1966, at the famed Apollo Theater in Harlem.